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Immersed in franchising

Over the past five weeks I’ve been immersed in all aspects of franchising… franchisee recruitment, training franchisees, new franchisors, existing franchisors looking to expand, master franchisees, well established franchisors… the whole range.

It’s been very interesting and, now that I’ve found my desk under a pile of post, a few things are beginning to occur to me about what’s happening in franchising right now.

So, I thought I’d write them down as they occurred to me, in no particular order.

Thought number oneAlthough franchisee recruitment isn’t any easier than it was a year ago, it is more… lubricated. Banks are loosening the purse strings slightly for good customers and for people wanting to join ‘good’ networks.

This means that pipelines are beginning to open up a bit and franchisors are beginning to grow their networks again.

Thought number twoSome franchisors are well placed to take advantage of this upsurge in new recruitment. In pole position are the established networks which can demonstrate their business model works, have been about for a while and can point to some franchisees who are doing well and are happy.

Having said that, franchisors with a good product who are prepared to invest in ‘franchising’ to develop their systems, recruitment packages and so on, are well placed to take advantage of the increased numbers of potential franchisees coming on to the market.

Thought number threeTraining franchisees to build a business is essential to all aspects of franchise success. Franchisees with brilliant product knowledge who can’t market the business effectively won’t achieve the success they want. This has a number of effects…

They don’t sell the franchise effectively to potential franchisees when they inevitably call them, they don’t earn the money they want and the franchisor doesn’t get the income either.

Thought number fourIt is absolutely essential for franchisees to have PMA…

That’s a Positive Mental Attitude, just in case you were reaching for the ointment to ease your own PMA. It’s not exactly about personality but a franchisee, for example, who asks for a meeting with a potential referrer with a smile on their face and positive attitude is much more likely to get referrals than a franchisee who is clearly struggling in the recession and isn’t happy with their lot.

It’s human nature that we gravitate towards and enjoy the company of positive people.